Best Wild Flowers Trails in Germany

This route was a very challenging and great beginner introduction to alpine hiking and mountain climbing in general because of the varied terrain. I went in the middle of July so the route had absolutely no snow or ice save for the glacier itself.

You have some standard hiking through trails, the gorge, and up into the valley which should be achievable by anybody in average physical shape (the elderly or those with more lethargic lifestyles should consider easier trails).

After the easier first half there is klettersteig/via ferrata to get up the first cliff face which will instantly gut check you whether you are truly comfortable with heights or not (turn around if aren't, it only gets worse at the top of the valley). Also, DO NOT be an idiot; use a klettersteig harness and use it properly for the cable sections!

Following this, there is a not too difficult scree field to cross and then the glacier which requires crampons (watched someone nearly die because they slipped and almost fell into a crevasse because they weren't wearing crampons). The second klettersteig route is much longer and more challenging but after 15 numbered sections you are at the peak.

Took my group about 7.5 hours from the hut in the valley at a steady moderate to slow pace with minimal breaks. You have the option of taking the cable car down if you don't want climb back down the mountain and there is plenty of options for food/drink at the top. If you find yourself arriving after the last cable car there is a hut with beds at the top as well.

Beautiful views, minimal training required thanks to klettersteig, and a great challenge for beginners like myself. Totally recommend!

very nice trail, especially on a hot sunny day. Mostly in the Woods. several beautifull Picknick Spots and points of Interest.

its really good hike to start!

Amazing views and beautiful hike! However, the map shown here seemed to be a little outdated- we ended up going 13 miles instead of the 9 listed here! It made for a long hard day, but the views are worth it! Be prepared for a long day and consider getting more updated info before you go.

Prachtige wandeling en heerlijk geluncht halverwege de route. Echte aanrader.

Beautiful views throughout the trail

Great views in every direction and easy to navigate.

Beautiful trail. Most of it runs parallel to a stream, and there are even a few places to stop along the way for a picnic lunch or a sit down restaurant. It was raining when I went, so if it's the same for your trip, be prepare with hardy boots!

Bavaria is quite possibly the most beautiful place I have ever visited and my hike up the Laber Mountain indubitably enhanced my Bavarian experience. Located in the quaint town of Oberammergau, the Laber is a challenging hike. I hiked this July 2016 when I was 45 and I consider myself to be in fair to average condition. I had to stop many times to catch my breath but the views were outstanding. I initially took a camelbak full of water and a backpack. Within about 10 min of my hike I wisely realized that I had to lose my backpack, so I hid it and proceeded on my 3 hour hike up the Laber. It was quite possibly the best and most challenging hike in my life. Not challenging in a climbing aspect but in a elevation and degree. I encountered a pack of cows in my initial descent and there was a fair amount of hikers on the mountain. There was an old rustic rest stop that offered cold bier and non alcoholic drinks maybe about half way to the top. The hike gets harder and harder as you ascend but once you reach the top a restaurant awaits offering traditional German food and bier of which I had several. The views at the top were magnificent and I opted to take the cable car back down instead of the 90 minute hike back. Look for the rare Edelweiss flower if you go. INCREDIBLE hike and at night I sat on my friends porch and saw the beacon light at the top of the Laber and smiled because I had been there. Alles in butter. Prost!

A very beautiful trail but harder then I expected! Make sure you bring plenty of water and don't choose a day that's too hot. The hike takes a good 9h so plan accordingly.

Also, Garmish-Partenkirchen is a beautiful city. Worth a stay!

A great hike with views to make it worthwhile. if you don't take the gondola up or down make sure up walk to it as the best view of the basin can be found from it rather than higher up (peak was fogged in the day i was there). Most of the pics here don't to the lake justice (including mine, phone died before i went to check out the gondola), most beautiful alpine lake I've seen.

This was a wonderful and challenging day hike. It took my husband and I 9 hours to complete with a few breaks and a stop at the summit for lunch. We were so lucky to have perfect weather for our hike. The scariest part was crossing the snow on the slope on the backside of the mountain, but the views at the top were worth it. I recommend taking the loop counterclockwise as we did. The way down was a tad longer, yet easier than the ascent. We hiked this at the end of May on the Tuesday before Ascension Thursday and we only saw six other people on the trail. This has been one of my favorite hikes yet.

The Malerweg is a 112 km long loop trail through the Sächsische Schweiz National Park near Dresden.
The complete loop can be split in to multiple stages. The suggestion is to do it in 8 stages. This is the 5. Etappe (stage) from the Neumannmühle in Kirnitzschtal to Schmilka on the Elbe river.
The hike goes to the top of the Große Wildberg (the second highest mountain in the Sächsische Schweiz and then down to the Elbe valley into the little town of Schmilka. The majority of the trail goes through the forests of the national park, which is changing from a spruce tree forest to a mix between spruce, beech and oak trees.

Lovely view - great walk! You need to bring some condition with you and don't forget water in summer or hot tea in winter to drink :)

I did this hike in March, with a German friend. If you want to have an authentic Bavarian hike, this is where I would start. You can choose to begin your hike with a ride in a cable car half way up the mountain. This will get you past the very steep first part of the trail. The first part of the trail is very steep, and was really hard to climb in some places, due to the ice. There is a German restaurant / lodge halfway up the mountain. The food is outstanding. The view from the top of Herzogstand is wonderful. I will be back to do this trail again in the spring time.

This is Germany’s highest summit, the Zugspitze, up the Höllental (Valley of Hell) route. This route has everything you could want: a spectacular gorge, tunnels, Alpine hut, hanging valley, glacier, Via Ferrata with nearly a kilometer of vertical exposure, and a beer garden summit destination.

The route starts in Hammersbach, goes up through the Höllentalklamm, past Höllentalangerhütte, then up a Via Ferrata route on the hanging valley of the Höllentalferner, onto the Höllentalferner itself (white in upper left), then up another Klettersteig to the summit.

Here is a photographic trip report: https://flic.kr/s/aHskKPtxqq

I booked a room ahead of time online at Höllentalangerhütte. I also joined the Deutscher Alpenverein (DAV) at the hut, which provides a membership discount on affiliated huts and coverage for helicopter rescue if necessary.

I arrived by Deutschebahn to Garmisch-Partenkirchen midday, stored my luggage in a locker at the Hauptbahnhof, stopped to pick up a topo map at Buchhandlung Adam (Am Kurpark 20), then took a taxi a few miles to the trailhead in the hamlet of Hammersbach.

Lots of little kids hike up to Höllentalangerhütte through the Höllentalklamm. After this, it's a completely different climb, requiring lots of mountaineering experience, or a guide, or both.

Though this route can be accomplished in a day, it's long. A safer option is to book a berth at Höllentalangerhütte, enjoy the Höllentalklamm in daylight, and depart right after first light after a good night's rest.

Minimum necessary gear for this route:
Helmet
Harness
Via Ferrata Lanyard with K-rated carabiners
Via Ferrata Gloves
Mountaineering boots
Crampons
Ice Axe
3 l water

Here's what happens if you fall off the rock with the wrong gear: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7Y2WgtnemY. And more on the necessity of at least an ice axe below. I was solo, so I also brought along a personal anchor system and tied a couple Prusiks, expected to be unnecessary for this B/C rated route, but that made me feel better. I was expecting to see a few sloppy safety practices, but was amazed by what I really saw: obviously unsafe gear, and oftentimes no gear at all, climbing this route with no protection whatsoever. Inappropriate gear and usage appears to be the cause of the regular climbing deaths on this mountain. Guided tours roped their clients for protection along the glacier. Individual hikers used ice axes in case self arrest was necessary. Several hikers used no self arrest protection whatsoever!

Crossing the randkluft and transitioning back to the Klettersteig is the most dangerous part of this climb. Incredibly, I observed many climbers packing away their crampons and axes while still standing on the ice uphill of large crevasses! The two on the right in the posted photograph are doing this. One little mistake and you'd be on a fast slide down to the bottom of the crevasse beneath us.

I learned after I returned and told this account that a German man died in August 2016 at this point by making this very mistake and sliding into this crevasse: http://goo.gl/8YUjFg. This local news article says that a Zugspitze climber falls into a crevasse every year.

I stood in line and removed my gear only after safely back on the rock.

A note on Via Ferrata lanyard usage: I thought the most unsafe practice I would see on this route was unclipping both carabiners at once. Nope. Several climbers were ascending and descending this Klettersteig with no protection whatsoever, like the climber in front of me in the posted photograph. The fall beneath these pegs is a few hundred meters, but the result is the same as a ten meter fall I suppose.

I climbed the Alpspitze the day after this climb. A German woman climbing without protection said to me in my Via Ferrata gear, "Zat iz not ze vay vee do it!" I replied that I'd "honestly never do what you’re doing."

If you visit these routes, do it the right way. There are too many accounts of people lost while climbing without respect for the conditions.

A famous point along the Höllental Route is "Die Schlüsselstelle"; the "key" to accessing the upper Klettersteig. This youtube video shows this part of the route: Abenteuer Zugspitze - Höllental-Klettersteig, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGDiYYsVad0#t=645s.

At the summit, many climbers and people in street shoes who ventured out to the Via Ferrata from the seilbahn were moving around the icy summit with no protection. That cross is built a few boot-lengths away from a cirque wall that drops about a kilometer back down to the Höllentalferner.

The safest options back down are the seilbahn (mind the time of the last car), or staying at Münchner Haus on the summit. You can also descend via the Rental route about 21 km and through the Partnachklamm back to Garmisch. Descending back down the Höllental route is extremely difficult and highly discouraged.

Beautiful and well-marked trail with amazing views of Zugspitze and the Alps. It's a steep climb, but not too difficult. The trail is popular with locals and quite busy, but definitely not overrun like the trails on the opposite side of the valley. Along the way are a bunch of alpine cabins & farms offering Bavarian food.
Another plus is that this trail is easily accessible by public transport, e.g. from Munich. Just take the train to Garmisch-Partenkirchen (approx. 1h) and walk from the train station to the trail head.